The Southern Railway on Thursday, November 16, notified the opening of the new goods shed at Ullal Railway Station in Someshwara under the Palakkad Railway Division to handle all kinds of goods traffic except coal, petroleum products and coke, with immediate effect.
The Railways has converted a ballast storage line on the eastern side of the Ullall Railway Station as a goods line that could hold a full length (42 BCN wagons) of goods rake at a time. An equal-length of platform (about 650 mt long and 15 mt wide) is constructed to facilitate the unloading of goods into trucks, mainly cement bags. The Railways has spent around ₹2.5 crore for the Ullal facility.
The Ullal goods shed is yet to get covered storage space where the unloaded goods could be stored for a short duration | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Ullal goods shed is developed to relocate goods unloading activities at the Bunder goods shed that is situated in the heart of the city. Residents and the city administration wanted the facility to be shifted out of the city to reduce vehicular congestion and pollution.
Coaching complex
Divisional Railway Manager of Palakkad Division Arun Kumar Chaturvedi told The Hindu on Friday, November 17, that the goods shed activities at the Bunder goods shed will be shifted to Ullal. Once the shifting is complete, Bunder will be converted into the coaching complex for Mangaluru Central Railway Station.
Passenger train rakes will be stabled at Bunder and an additional stabling line will be constructed to stable more trains, he said. Thus, the congestion at the Mangaluru Central gets reduced, Mr. Chaturvedi added.
Facilities to be improved
However, unlike the Bunder goods shed, the Ullal goods shed is yet to get covered storage space where the unloaded goods could be stored for a short duration. Officials indicated that storage space might be developed in a gradual manner. Goods that are unloaded at Ullal should be transported directly to the dealers’ godowns located at places including Panambur, Baikampady, Maroli etc.
Shifting of goods operations to Ullal will avoid plying of cement-laden trucks from the Bunder goods shed to dealers’ godowns located on the periphery of the city’s crisscrossing roads. It will also reduce the air pollution caused from emission by trucks as well as spread of cement fines in the air.
